Women's Soccer Win Is Worth the Wait

After a late start and two lengthy injury timeouts during the game, the Muhlenberg women’s soccer team recorded a 4-0 win over Washington College, its third shutout in a row.

Graetzer fires the shot that became her 11th career goal.

The game ended three hours after its scheduled start time.

“This game definitely took mental toughness as well as physical toughness,” said junior Stephanie Tramutola. “We have great captains. Maggie [Neary] and Alyssa [Meola] were really amping us up and making us stay intense.”

Tramutola scored her first goal of the season in the 64th minute when she fired a long shot from the right corner of the 18-yard box.

Senior Jillian Moretto also scored her first goal of the season to cap the scoring. She fired a high shot over the goalie’s head with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, following a pass from freshman Gabriela De Frutos. It was De Frutos’ first career point as a Mule.

Junior CJ Graetzer got the Mules on the scoreboard when she put away a short shot in the 57th minute off a well-placed cross from freshman Nicole Karsch

Senior Natalie Wizel added a goal just over a minute later, following a free kick by Neary and a short pass from Karsch.

Karsch (2) and Wizel (23) celebrate after the second goal. Karsch is the third Mule freshman this season to record two assists in a game.

There were three injuries in a matter of minutes during the first half. A Washington player was injured with about six minutes remaining in the half, leading to over 30 minutes of delay. Just over two minutes after the game resumed, Mule freshman Taylor Pini and the Washington goalie collided and play was halted again. Halftime came shortly after that.

“We kept having to stop the game and kept having to get back into it again,” said Tramutola. “In the second half, we came out really strong. We couldn’t lay back and we couldn’t give them the ball. We really possessed it well in the second half.”

The Mules had a 21-4 shot advantage on the Shorewomen and did not allow a single corner kick.

Junior Amanda Wong recorded her second consecutive shutout, also the second of her career.

It was the Mules’ second four-goal victory in a row and their third of the season. Muhlenberg scored all of its goals in the second half  the first time it scored four second-half goals since a 6-1 victory over Washington in 2003.

“We have really come together since our Hopkins win. We’ve really been on a roll and our mental state has been so positive,” stated Tramutola. “We’ve been working so hard in and out of practice, so I think this win goes to show how hard the whole entire team has been working.”

After starting out 0-2 in Centennial Conference play, the Mules have pulled together four straight league victories to move near the top of the standings with four CC games left.